


Red Paint

by BlackCrowQueen



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Drabble, Emil/Tuuri if you squint, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackCrowQueen/pseuds/BlackCrowQueen
Summary: Emil reflects on what Tuuri has told him about Saimaa.





	Red Paint

**Author's Note:**

> Literally just my idea on why Emil is hanging back in the Chapter 4 cover. I had to get this out before Minna debunks it in the next page today HAHA.

The boat slowly approached a modest sized dock. A couple other smaller boats, probably for fishing or scouting, we're tied down along it. Following Lalli’s signal, the group stood near the door to depart. Lalli was closest to the exit, Emil guessed so that he could get off as soon as possible. 

The hull scraped lightly against the dock, and a couple of sailors lowered the gang plank. Stepping off, Emil just saw boats, the shore, and a well-used winding dirt road leading further into whatever island they were on. No visible quarantine facilities in sight. 

“Sooo… no quarantine here?” Emil said.

Sigrun shrugged. “Makes it easier for us,” she said, tying her jacket around her waist.

With nothing left to do but follow Lalli, they left the boat. A few signs were posted; one had a map of the surrounding area, one had departure and arrival times, … and one had a long list of names with some of them painted over in red. 

The others gave it a glance, but something about it made Emil pause, everyone ghosting past him.

_ “It's like no one is scared of an outbreak!” _

_ “… Does that happen a lot? Where you live, I mean.” _

Emil stared at the list. None of them seemed to be names of people, though he had very limited experience with Finnish names. A glance between the list and the map revealed it was names of villages. 

_ “All the towns and villages are scattered on small islands, often far away from each other. Which is good! It's easy to keep each village safe with simple measures. Even the ones where almost no one is immune. Even so, one year there might be a trade route to some other island far, far away, and the next year there might not. It was just something that always  _ **_could_ ** _ happen.” _

Emil had almost forgotten that conversation.

For the first time in a long time, he let the memories mist and float together, out of the place where he had bottled them up. Everything she had told him about Finland, every event surrounding that precious chatter, and everything about her, too. 

“Oy… Emil.”

He blinked and turned towards the source of the voice. Sigrun stood, hands in her pockets, at the edge of the path, waiting for him. An unusual sternness was on her face.

“Ah- sorry,” he said. He adjusted his bag and strode down the rest of the dock. Sigrun turned and marched ahead to saddle up behind Mikkel and the others. 

_ “But no, it doesn't happen a  _ **_lot_ ** _.” _

With a deep sigh, Emil settled into a walking pace, not really trying to catch up with them as they headed into the village. 


End file.
